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In Support of Undocumented Students

Today, the U.S. Attorney General announced that the administration plans to rescind the important program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). This wrong-minded decision will adversely impact hundreds of thousands of young people who deserve the opportunity to build successful lives here in the United States. It also puts at risk one of our highest priorities as a liberal arts college: helping to foster talented individuals from all backgrounds to pursue their scholarly ambitions.

In the wake of President Trump’s decision, Congress should act quickly to ensure that DACA protections continue before the program expires on March 5, 2018. We strongly support such legislation already introduced that offers many of the same protections as the DACA program. We are in contact with our Congressional delegation and will take other opportunities to make our voice heard on this issue.

Here on campus we remain committed to supporting our undocumented students. At Barnard, these students receive full financial support, which will continue. Barnard will continue to protect the privacy of all members of our campus. As a result, we will never share confidential student records except as authorized by the student or required by court order or subpoena. We will not allow federal agents or law enforcement to have access to nonpublic areas of the College without a lawfully issued judicial warrant or as required by federal regulations. We will not ask our public safety officers to assist federal immigration enforcement officials in detaining or questioning any individual solely on the basis of their immigration status.

To help support members of our community, we have identified legal counsel who can provide free advice to students, faculty and staff who have questions related to changing immigration policy, including the latest action on DACA. For students who have legal questions, please contact Wendy Garay, associate dean for international and intercultural student programs, at wgaray@barnard.edu. For faculty with questions, please get in touch with Giorgio Di Mauro, dean for international and global strategy, at gdimauro@barnard.edu. Staff should get in touch with Robin Beltzer in Human Resources, at rbeltzer@barnard.edu.

We live in challenging times. We must ensure that all members of our community are given the opportunity to learn and thrive in an environment free of fear. Changes in national policy that adversely affect us--be it ending protections for undocumented students, degrading the rights of our transgender community, or cutting federal student aid and support for research--are assaults on our mission and must be challenged. We will work closely with students, faculty and staff in the coming days to speak out in support of our community and our institutional values.